Portable rig, mast and substructure



y 8, 1962 J. H. WILSON 3,033,527

PORTABLE RIG, MAST AND SUBSTRUCTURE Original Filed Oct. 5, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 B) /9 W 11/5 1765M? y 8, 1962 J. H. WILSON 3,033,527

PORTABLE RIG, MAST AND SUBSTRUCTURE Original Filed Oct. 5, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zfig, 5

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, I BY 4 48 H15 BEE/V7 United States atent 3,033,527 PORTABLE RIG, MAST AND SUBSTRUCTURE John Hart Wilson, Wilson Manufacturing Company, P.O. Box 1031, Wichita Falls, Tex.

Original application Oct. 5, 1954, Ser. No. 460,441, now Patent No. 2,922,501, dated Jan. 26, 1960. Divided and this application Sept. 18, 1959, Ser. No. 840,062

3 Claims. (Cl. 254139.1)

This invention relates to improvements in drilling rig structure, and more particularly to a drilling rig wherein the rig proper is mounted on a vehicle for transportation over the highways, and wherein the sub-structure therefor is so designed as to provide a ramp upon which the rig may be rolled, so as to enable the rig to be elevated above the level of the ground sufficiently to permit easy access to the well connections and to the casing head, which are usually positioned beneath the sub-structure.

This application is a division of my prior application Ser. No. 460,441, Portable Rig Mast and Substructure, filed October 5, 1954, now Patent No. 2,922,501.

Heretofore, it has required considerable time and effort to elevate the draw works, mast, and other mechanism incident to a well drilling apparatus to a height sufficient to enable the casing head and other connections to be made below the fioor of the derrick.

An object of this invention is to provide a rig structure comprising a vehicle on which the rig is mounted, the mast super-structure and the mast floor of which are so constructed as to be readily disassembled and moved from one location to another and reassembled in a rninimum of time and with a minimum of assembly work;

Another object of this invention is to provide a substructure for a drilling rig, wherein the sub-structure may be collapsed, so as to enable the structure to be of such ice portion of the sub-structure elements spread apart to show the intermediate bracing therefor;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front elevational view of the sub-structure in collapsed condition, ready for transportation; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view of the folded ramp, with the extended position shown in dot-dash outline.

With more detailed reference to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the sub-structure generally, which substructure comprises portions 2 and 4. The portions 2 and 4 may be separated, as shown in FIG. 3, so that the ramp members 6 and '8 are spaced apart to receive the wheels 10 of the trailer, designated generally by the numeral 12.

The sub-structure 1 comprises rig floor sills 14 and rig floor 15, and pipe racking floor 15a, which are elevated or positioned above the sub-structure sill members 16, a sufficient distance to provide space for valves, flow pipes, blow-out preventers and the like, between sill members 14 and 16. Sill members 18 and 20 are provided at the upper end of the respective ramps 6 and 8, and have support standards 22 thereunder, so as to form a level surface to support the wheels 10 of the trailer.

The trailer frame, on which the engines and the drawworks are mounted, is preferably of the goose-neck type, the goose neck 12a being at the forward end of the trailer frame. The upper section of the mast is open on the side opposite the forward end of the trailer frame, which open side is considered as the front of the mast and will be so referred to. In the particular combination shown in the width as to be readily transported over the highways,

but when on location, may be expanded transversely to give a wider footing to form ramps upon which the rig may be easily elevated, without the necessity of using a crane or the like.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a rig wherein the super-structure or mast is efiectively guyed to the sub-structure and to the structure of the drilling rig or to the trailer on which it is mounted, so as to prevent transverse movement of the mast or superstructure, so that the mast, which is supported on one side of the well, is restrained from falling by means of guy wires attached to the draw works and/or to the frame of the trailer, which trailer frame, in turn, is f-astened to the sub-structure, an end of which sub-structure extends substantially beyond the center of the well on the side opposite the rig, so that the entire structure becomes a self-guyed unit, without the necessity of any guy wires to the ground.

With these objects in mind and others which will become manifest as the description proceeds, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts in the several views thereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a drilling rig, with parts broken away and shortened, and with parts shown in dot-dash outline, to bring out the details of construction;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the mast and substructure, showing the mast in extended position, and with parts broken away and shortened to show the details of construction;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the sub-structure;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a present application, the mast, comprising sections 30, 31 and 38, is pivotally mounted on the rear end of the vehicle frame, which frame is designated generally at 12, and in the present instance, the front end of the substructure is arranged in opposed relation to the front end of the trailer frame and in reference to this particular arrangement, the front end of the sub-structure will be so referred to. However, the present sub-structure can be 7 used with rigs having the mast mounted on the front end thereof.

The trailer 12- has the forward end thereof supported by jacks 24 and 26, which jacks may be adjusted to make the frame of the trailer substantially level. A mast superstructure 30 is pivotally mounted at 32 on upright standards 34 and '35 so it may be raised to the position as shown in full outline in FIGS. 1 and 2, or telescoped and lowered into a horizontal position, as indicated in dotdash outline in FIG. 1. A multiple cylinder jack, generally designated at 36, is pivotally mounted on frame 28 and to the rear face of the mast 30, so upon application of hydraulic pressure, the jack will extend to the position as shown in full outline in FIG. l, or it may be retracted to the position as shown in dot-dash outline therein, with the mast lowered into horizontal position.

The lower portion 38 of the mast is secured to the intermediate portion thereof by means of bolts 40, which enables the intermediate portion 30 thereof to be hinged to move the mast into a horizontal position, yet maintain the lower portion in an upright position. An adjustable turnbuckle 42 is provided intermediate standards 35 and the lower portion 38 of the mast. This will enable the inclination or batter of the mast to be readily adjusted, so as to center the traveling block over the well. The line of travel of the traveling block is indicated by the dotdash line.

The lower end of the mast has a screw jack 44 therein, which engages a footing 46, so as to further enable the correct positioning of the face of the mast with respect to the well.

Outrigger arms 48 are pivotally mounted intermediate the mast floor sills and the base sills 16, and which outrigger arms swing outward, as indicated in FIG. 2, when the mast is ready for drilling operation, and which arms swing into the position as indicated in dot-dash outline in FIG. 1, when it is desired to transport the sub-structure from place to place.

Each of the inclined ramps 6 and 8 is composed of two sections, which are hinged together by the respective hinge pins 6a and 8a, which pins are transversely disposed near the top thereof so the lower ends of the respective ramps 6b and 311 will hinge about the respective pins 6a and 8a so the respective ramps will fold into the position as indicated in FIG. 6. In this manner the ramps are materially shortened for moving the device from place to place, but may be extended, when desired, to erect the substructure. A lock pin 6c is provided in lug 6d.

The usual draw works 56 and power plant 52 are mounted on the trailer frame 28, and are movable in the trailer while in place. Guy wires 54, 56, 58, 60 and 62 are provided for guying the back, front, and the respective sides of the mast, so as to prevent movement of the mast in any direction, while in operating position. A tension rod 64 is provided intermediate the front end of sills 28 of the trailer and the rear end portions of the ramps, and with the jacks 24 interposed between the upper face of the sills 16 and the lower face of the sills 28, any forward pull by guy wires 54 and 56, which are anchored to the rear end of the frame of the trailer 12, will be transmitted through tension rods 64 to the base or sub-structure 1.

The mast is provided with a crown block 66 wherein the cables pass over the sheaves thereof, which sheaves are each encased within a casing. The cables are threaded over the respective sheaves, through the crown block and through the traveling block, so that the traveling block, as shown, will hang with the axis of the sheaves thereof perpendicular to the front of the mast.

A racking platform 68 is hingeably mounted a spaced distance above the floor 14 of the mast, and is supported by guy wires 57, as will best be seen in FIG. 1. A walkway 70 is pivotally mounted on the outer side of the working floor 15 and may be folded outward, as indicated in FIG. 2, when the mast is ready for operation, and which may be folded inward, as indicated in FIG. 5, when the sub-structure is ready for transportation.

When the members 2 and 4 are spaced apart, the racking floor member 15!: is lowered into place, so as to seat within shouldered recesses 72, as will best be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, and when spread apart, a brace or spacer bar 74 is secured between upright standards 76 and 73, as will best be seen in FIG. 4, additional spacer bars being provided at the opposite end and at intermediate points between the members 2 and 4. When the members 2 and 4 are in this position, space is provided in the working floor 15 for the usual rotary table.

Operation By having a structure of the character described, that is, with the sub-structure, generally designated at 1, spread apart, as indicated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the trailer 12 may be moved up the ramp 6 until the wheels come to rest on sills 13, whereupon, the frame 23 may be leveled by means of jacks 24, 25, and 26, and tension rods 64, which are secured between the forward ends of the sills 26 and the lower end of the ramps, and with the jacks 24 interposed between the sills '16 and the trailer sills 28, the device is ready for the mast to be erected. The lower portion 38 of the mast rests on footing 46 and is adjusted by means of screw jacks 44 and turn-buckle 42, to the position the mast is expected to occupy. Hydraulic pressure is then applied to jack 36, which Will move the mast 30 from the position shown in dot-dash outline, to that shown in full outline, in FIG. 1, whereupon, the inner portion of the mast, generally designated at 31, is moved upward, as by cable and sheave means, or by means of a hydraulic plunger, such as is disclosed in the application for patent Ser. No. 85,299 of Thomas M. Rowan, now Patent No. 2,715,954, until the mast is fully extended. Then the guy lines 54, 56, 57, 58, 60 and 62 are tightened so as to maintain the mast in rigid, upright position. It will be appreciated that the placing of the sub-structure and the spreading apart thereof, from the position as shown in FIG. 5, to that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, ready to receive the trailer 8, can all be done in a minimum of time. By moving the trailer 12 upward along the ramps 6, into the position, as shown in FIG. 1, the entire drilling rig can be set up in a minimum of time, which process, heretofore, required several hours or several days.

With the mast erected in place, as described above, the drilling operation may be started immediately, as it is not necessary to remove the traveling block and cables from the mast while it is being moved from place to place. Furthermore, it is to be pointed out that the substructure, designated by the numeral 1, may be collapsed together, as shown in FIG, 5, to present a narrow structure for movement over the road, after the racking floor member 15a has been removed from recessed notches 72.

By the utilization of this form of sub-structure, and by positioning the drawworks 5t approximately twice the distance rearward of the mast, as the distance between the front legs and the center of the well, the pull on the traveling block line 51 will be such as to tend to pull the top of the mast toward the rear of the sub-structure, there-by relieving substantially the strain on the guy wires 54 and 56.

It is also to be pointed out that the guy wires 54, 56, 57, 58, 60 and 62 are anchored to the frame or substructure, thereby eliminating the digging of dead-man holes, the driving of stakes, or guying to some object remote from the well, and yet present an arrangement which provides dependable, substantial guying method which may be used on any type of land.

While the device has been illustrated and described in one embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that changes may be made in the minor details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus clearly shown and described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination a substructure and a well servicing machine forming a unit comprising: a substructure having an elevated supporting surface above the ground level, said substructure being open at one side thereof, said substructure having a vehicle supporting surface secured to and extending outward from said open side thereof at a lower level than said elevated supporting surface of said substructure, an inclined ramp connected to the vehicle supporting surface of said substructure and extending substantially to the ground level, as well servicing machine comprising a vehicle having road wheels, a frame, a power plant, at least one hoisting drum, and a mast mounted thereon, which mast is at least partially supported by said vehicle frame, said substructure being adaptedto support said well servicing machine thereon at said lower level, means mounted on said vehicle frame and connected to said mast for erecting and lowering said mast, certain guy lines attached to the distal end of said mast on the rear side thereof, the other ends of the respective guy lines being attached to, the distal end of the frame of said vehicle to hold said mast substantially upright but in a leaning position, with the opposite end of said mast resting on said substructure, said substructure extending beyond the side of the well opposite said vehicle on which said mast is partially supported, said substructure having a racking floor thereon a substantial distance above the ground for racking pipe thereon, auxiliary supporting means between ing means between the ground and said vehicle frame to support thewell servicing machine, and tension means secured to the frame near the distal end thereof and to said substructure to resist the pull of said guy lines ex tending to the distal end of said mast.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said substructure is composed of two sections which are spaced apart to receive said racking floor therebetween at the working area level, and by a suitable spacer bar near the ground level at one end, and by suitable spacer bar on the opposite end, and further spacer bars at intermediate points between said sections, said sub-structure being so arranged that when said racking floor and said spacer bars are removed from between said sections, the two sections of said sub-structure can be brought together in 3. A structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said ramp has horizontally disposed hinges near the top surface of each ramp member and intermediate the length thereof so that the lower section of said ramp will fold side by side relation to be fastened each to the other,

to be transported as a unit within the width normally permitted on highways.

onto the upper section thereof in superposed, complementary relation,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,429,010 Woolslayer et a1 Oct. 14, 1947 2,593,246 Bender Apr. 15, 1952v 2,617,500 Cardwell et al Nov. 11, 1952 2,715,954 Rowan Aug. 23, 1955 2,808,911 McLerran Oct. 8, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 690,529 Great Britain Apr. 22, 1953 

